Thursday, June 25, 2009

ICANN Hires Former Cyber Security Chief as New CEO

The Internet agency with key oversight of the monikers behind every Web site, e-mail address and Twitter post named former U.S. cybersecurity chief Rod Beckstrom Friday as its next chief executive.

The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved his hiring in a voice vote Friday as ICANN capped weeklong meetings in Sydney, Australia. Beckstrom becomes CEO next Wednesday.

Beckstrom, who had resigned after less than a year as cybersecurity director amid persistent turf battles, brings credentials in industry, government and diplomacy — but little direct experience with domain names and broader Internet addressing issues, ICANN's chief mission.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Beckstrom said that won't be a problem because he saw his job as bringing various constituencies with various expertise together, rather than creating policies himself.

"Our job at ICANN is to facilitate that dialogue and process," he said. "I don't see myself as being the leading source or expert."